


Antlers and Petunias

by velenarthur



Category: Red Dead Redemption (Video Games)
Genre: Afterlife, High Honor Arthur Morgan, Just lots of Angst, Oneshot, Reincarnation, bring a pack of tissues, tuberculosis
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-01
Updated: 2019-08-01
Packaged: 2020-07-29 00:20:35
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 520
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20073028
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/velenarthur/pseuds/velenarthur
Summary: John Marston tries to cope with a somewhat-domestic life. He has a wife, a kid, and an old man to take care of. But past memories of the Van der Linde gang haunt him, along with the death of Arthur Morgan. Marston tries to make the rest of his years the best and to impress Arthur from high above. Traces of him do follow, though. There will always be traces. Living in a vast world of nature and beauty, old friends follow John.





	Antlers and Petunias

There’s a buck in the distance, grazing on a field. The ground is rich, and flowers brush up against the deer. His antlers are mighty and strong. The deer looks at him, and then runs away. What is he running away from?

This is what Arthur told John. Another campfire story. However, this isn’t a story. It’s one of Arthur’s dreams. Mr. Morgan’s health is declining, and there isn’t much time left. Coughs are getting worse and worse and worse. You can see spots of blood on the cliffside of Beaver Hollow. Spots of blood next to Arthur’s tent. Blood spots, here and there. The rest of the gang is concerned. Susan tries to comfort the sick man by giving as much stew as possible. Wet cloths on his forehead work, but only temporarily. Nothing really works. It’s too far in. The sickness can’t go away now. Too late.

Damn tuberculosis. You can’t say that everything will be fine when you know it ain’t. Everyone is scared about what’s gonna happen next. Dutch’s “plan,” Micah’s ass-kissing to Dutch, everyone getting killed or abandoning the gang, and eventually: betrayal. John sees nothing good of it. Fights are happening daily, and guns are even drawn. What happened to a no-guns rule inside camp? Maybe the old Murfree Brood cave has cursed everyone. That’s silly. Curses aren’t a thing. Can John do his part to save everyone?

No. It’s too late. It still feels too late, eight years later. 

John is on his own now, and he has his own family. Abigail, Jack, and hell, why not include Uncle. He helps himself to dinner anyway. Beecher’s Hope. Arthur would be proud, and John knows he is. Wherever he is. 

Does he believe in the afterlife? Doubts go through his mind, but who knows what’s really out there. No one really knows. That’s why we’re always questioning Death. Death is no friend of John, however. Death took away Arthur, Death took away John’s parents, and Death takes away the criminals during John’s bounty hunts. He will probably never be a friend of the Marston’s, and John hopes that he never has to see him again for a long time. Prays to never see him in fact. John doesn’t even pray.

Neither did Arthur. Arthur was a very realistic man that taught John a lot of things. Being ten years older than him, he was a mentor to John in a lot of ways. He was basically an older brother. They fought like brothers do, but they also had a bond. Coming from shit familial backgrounds, they had a lot in common. They learned how to hunt, how to fish, how to escape from the law, and other crazy stuff. Now, John has no mentor. He’s on his own, and Arthur is gone.

No one is really gone. That’s the conclusion John has currently came to. Arthur isn’t really gone. 

There’s a buck in the distance, grazing on a field. The ground isn’t very rich near Blackwater and the deserts of the Big Valley, but there’s a buck near the back entrance to Beecher’s Hope.


End file.
